Warriors Honor
by DragonShadow
Summary: Jack run into a band of mercenaries who will stop at nothing to cash in on the reward on his head.


Warriors Honor  
  
  
The sky shone with a purple haze as a lone warrior made his way across the grassy planes. His plain white robes fluttered in the breeze as he walked and the mystical sword against his side swung idly with his swaying side to side. The sun was high in the air, a nice warm day he would have loved to stop and rest in. He couldn't though, there was no rest for a man on a mission, he would rest when he was victorious... or dead.  
  
He slowly stopped in the middle of a glade and looked around. The wind was roaring now and the plant life around him was swaying violently with it. Beneath it all though he could hear a soft buzzing sound. He could almost mistake it for a cricket, but he had not heard any for the last two hours. He didn't think there were any in this forest.  
  
A streak of light shot from the forest in an instant, whizzing right past him as he whirled to avoid it, dropping into a defensive crouch as he turned to look where it had come from. As he watched a whole swarm of men dressed in armor swarmed out of the forest. Each of them had a weapon of some kind pointed at him he didn't really recognize. He'd seen enough like them though to know what they probably did.  
  
"Come with us stranger." One of the men said firmly as he cocked the weapon loudly, aiming it right at the warrior's head.  
  
Jack looked him over warily before he bowed his head and put his hands together in front of him. "I apologize, I did not realize this area belonged to another. I will be on my way presently." He replied, turning to head in the direction he had been going. Several of the guards stepped in front of him warningly, putting their weapons up in front of them.  
  
"I said, come with us." The same man repeated warningly, raising his own weapon in front of him. The ancient warrior surveyed the situation carefully, studying each guard to see if there was any weak links among them. They all looked strong however, it would be a tough fight if he chose to do so.  
  
"If you require my assistance I will grant it. Simply tell me what you need." The warrior said graciously.  
  
The man who'd spoken before just laughed and gave a wink. "We need your head." Instantly several guards opened fire at the same time. Jack rolled out of the way quickly, reaching for the hilt of the magical blade he always carried with him. The blade deflected several more blasts, but there were far too many guards to keep this up for very long.  
  
He deflected one more blast with his blade before he gave a mighty leap and grabbed onto a lower tree branch over head, using it to throw himself to the other side of the line of fire. He pumped his legs as fast as he could as the sound of more shots rang from behind him. The blasts slammed into the ground and trees all around him, blowing chunks out of the landscape.  
  
He was forced to come to a screeching halt when he came to the edge of a cliff. The landscape continued far below, but it was far too steep for him to climb down and the fall would likely end his journey right there. His only option was to turn and try to fight his way out.  
  
He didn't have a chance though as an energy blast tore into his back, roaring through his body in under an instant. He felt his strength ebbing away as he crumpled to his knees, falling back onto the ground limply and looking back the way he'd come.  
  
"Did you see that, what kind of sword is that anyway..." Was the last thing Jack heard before he blacked out.  
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The heat made him gasp slightly when he finally felt himself coming to. His arms still felt a bit wobbly, but he was still in one piece as he pushed himself to his knees. He was laying on the ground at the end of what looked like a long hallway with no entrance on his side. In front of him was a long stretch of ground with nothing but molten rocks... the source of the heat. There was no roof on the hallway, and several dozen people were watching him curiously.  
  
Jack reached for the hilt of his blade instinctively... but found that it wasn't there anymore. Someone had taken it. "What is the meaning of this?" He demanded quickly.  
  
"We're really supposed to take you straight to our employer... I think you should know him." The same man from before spoke with a slight smirk on his face. There was only one being he could be speaking of now... Aku. "But we're a sporting bunch, so we give our captives a chance at freedom before we dispose of them. Make it across the molten pit, and you walk free warrior. Fail and... well you won't put up a fight." Several of the spectators laughed at this.  
  
The ancient warrior looked down at the pit of rocks as he thought about a way across. That was the only way out he could see, the walls were too smooth to climb, and he doubted they would let him go that way anyway. There were several holes and slits in the wall on either side, which meant if the molten rocks didn't do him in, the traps were supposed to finish the job.  
  
Calmly Jack kicked off his wooden sandals and stood in front of the pit. He could hear the snickers and chuckles from the spectators as he closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on clearing his mind. Finally he half-opened his eyes again and put his right foot forward, onto the glowing hot rocks.  
  
Smoke issued forth from the soles of his foot, but he gave no reaction as he brought his other foot forward in another step, then another. The crowd overhead stood in hushed silence as they watched him make his slow, methodical way across the molten hallway.  
  
About a fourth of the way through the suddenly twang of a bow filled the air, and the whir of the arrow followed immediately after. Instantly one of the warriors hands shot up and grabbed hold of the shaft before it could plunge into his chest. With a smirk he dropped the arrow to the rocks below him. It burst into flames instantly as he continued his steady pace.  
  
In a few more moments his eyes darted back and forth as he neared the center of the hallway. There as obviously something there waiting for him, but he couldn't really guess what it was. He stopped just before he crossed that line and studied the slits for a few moments. They looked just big enough to fit a small blade through... daggers perhaps.  
  
He look one step forward... and the soft sound of a pair of daggers shooting toward him emanated from both sides. Quickly the warrior bent over backwards, letting the daggers collide right over him. They slammed into each other and fell straight toward his chest at the same time. He clapped his hands together on the blades to halt their downward progress.  
  
He lifted himself back up to a standing position and let the daggers fall to his side as he continued on his way. As he neared the final stretch of the hallway he could see much larger slits horizontal to the ground. Something big was down here, they wanted to make sure nobody got out alive.  
  
Cautiously he took one more step forward. A loud buzz filled the air as a huge buzz saw came out of the wall on his right, coming straight at him. Instantly Jack leapt into the air and landed on the saw, running as fast as he could to stay in place with the saws spin. As he ran another saw came out a small ways ahead of him, so he took a huge running leap to that saw and bounced off of it, landing on the solid ground beyond the molten hallway.  
  
By the time he straightened up there were already half a dozen guards with weapons trained on him at point blank range. The man from before looked to be in utter awe as he came around to look at Jack curiously. "That was some feat boy... who are you?" He asked quietly.  
  
"They call me Jack... now if you will give me back my sword, I must be on my way. I must continue my journey." The warrior replied sensibly.  
  
"I don't think so... you see Aku is expecting you and well... even I won't disappoint him." The man replied.  
  
"You said if I got out you would release me." Jack said firmly.  
  
"Yeah well... make me." The man said with a slight smirk. Jack just stared back at him through narrowed eyes as he turned away. "Get the prisoner ready for transport, we're taking him back to Aku right away." He said off-handedly as he started to walk away. Jack didn't try to fight back as the other roughly hauled him along, slapping chains on his wrists. He couldn't beat these odds, besides he couldn't leave without his fathers magical sword.  
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The warrior sat in the back of the transport vehicle as it clambered on down the road toward his ancient enemy. He couldn't stay here, he had to get out and find a way back to his own time to undo all of this. Just twenty feet away from him the same guard who'd spoken to him earlier was looking over the magical blade with the look of a curious observer.  
  
"How did you do it warrior? You deflected energy bursts and I can't cut this chair here..." The man asked curiously as he clumsily swung the blade at the wooden seat in front of him. It barely made a knick.  
  
"It is only as efficient as the hand that wields it." Jack replied simply as he stared at the blade. It glinted sharply in the light that filtered in through the windows. It was so close, but he couldn't get to it with all of the guards sitting around them, ready to fire at a moments notice.  
  
"Yeah well it looks like a piece of junk to me." The man said as he stood up and headed toward the back... past Jack. The samurai waited patiently until he was right in front of him, then leapt up and slammed his still bound hands into the guys head. Before the guards could react he gripped the blade in both hands and whirled, slicing a hole in the side of the vehicle big enough for him to jam himself through.  
  
He tumbled down a small hill head first, being careful not to impale himself with the blade he still had clutched in his hands. When he finally reached the bottom he pushed himself up to his knees. An expert flick of the blade sliced easily through the bonds, freeing him... kind of. In a moment the blasts from the soldiers weapons started raining down on him, forcing him to run for the forest quickly.  
  
He deflected a few with his blade before he vanished into the trees, taking shelter while the waves of soldiers poured into the forest searching for him. He could hear the commands of the leader above the sounds of marching. He watched the soldiers walk by underneath in perfect unison... almost too perfect.   
  
Quickly Jack threw himself out of the tree with a mighty yell, bringing his sword down to cleave one of the soldiers in half. Sparks flew for an instant before the soldier exploded... it was a fake person. He barely had time to assimilate this as several other guards turned toward him.  
  
Quickly the samurai whirled with a vicious slash that sliced two of the closest robots in half across their stomachs, then dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way as the others opened fire. He threw his sword at one guard to pierce it through the head, sending it to the ground in a shower of sparks. The third fired again, but the blast went wide as Jack threw himself at it, throwing it to the ground.  
  
He retrieved his sword as he passed by the still falling robot and whirled again. The slash cut the last robot clean in half at an angle, sending it fall to the ground in two different directions. He clutched the sword again more tightly and whirled when he heard the leader shouting order to the others from close nearby. He could barely make out the man's silhouette in the foliage.  
  
When the man realized he'd been spotted he turned and ran through the forest, pursued closely by the samurai warrior. Several soldiers leapt into Jack's way, but they quickly found themselves in two pieces or more as he pursued what was likely the only human among the whole group.  
  
Finally the warrior flung his sword ahead of him to sever a large tree branch. It snapped off easily and came tumbling down, slamming into the man and pinning him to the ground roughly, also quite likely knocking the senses out of him. Jack walked up to look down at him with his hands folded underneath the sleeves of his robe.  
  
"Yeah... ya got me... go ahead..." The man grunted out as he looked down at his chest. The tree had him pinned easily, but it also looked like there was some kind of device strapped to his chest. It was destroyed now... it likely controlled the other soldiers. Jack walked over and retrieved his sword before he came back... and sliced the branch in half in order to get it off of the man. "What...?"  
  
"You could be seriously wounded, you should be looked over." The samurai warrior replied as he kneeled down to help the soldier to his feet. He was almost too stunned to say anything as Jack practically carried him off in the direction they had come from in the transport. The warrior didn't say anything else, but simply concentrated on his task.  
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Jack waited patiently outside the building that served as the small villages' hospital. There were people in the town besides just the leader of the soldiers, he was just the only one who left the village to hunt and exchange things with Aku himself. He turned to look down at a smaller woman who came out of the building demurely.  
  
"He was badly bruised, but the injuries were not serious... I believe he wishes to speak to you." She told him firmly. Jack bowed his head and put his hands together in front of him.  
  
"Thank you for your help." She smiled and nodded back before she went off to tend to the children who were playing by the small lake that ran by the village. Jack turned and went inside the building. The man from before was laying on the bed limply, staring at the door. He smiled slightly when he saw the warrior enter.  
  
"All I want to know is... why didn't you kill me after I captured you... lied to you?" He asked curiously.  
  
"It is my sworn duty to rid the world of Aku, but I feel no malice toward those who choose to follow him." The samurai replied thoughtfully. "I protect those who need me, no matter what they've done in the past."  
  
"Well-spoken warrior... perhaps you can get rid of that evil being..." The man replied thoughtfully.  
  
"I must first find a way back home." With that Jack turned to leave the building, but the man's voice behind him stopped him for a moment.  
  
"Daniel." Jack turned around to look down at him curiously. "My name is Daniel... just thought you should know that." He said quickly. The samurai smiled slightly and gave a quick bow before he turned to leave the building once and for all.  
  
He continued on his way without another word, seeking a way back to his won time, his own world and make sure Aku never got this kind of hold on the planet. He didn't care what happened or who got in his way, he would prevent all of this. Still, he would not forget his duties to those who inhabit this world. He would not forget his vows and he would never, ever, forget his honor.  
  
THE END 


End file.
